Peabody Energy, the largest private coal company in the United States, will invest between $350 million and $450 million over the next several years to open a coal mine just south of Terre Haute, Indiana. The company says in a statement that it plans to hire approximately 350 skilled workers to work the Bear Run mine, which will be the largest surface coal mine in the eastern United States. "We are the largest producer and reserve holder in the Illinois Basin, which is one of the fastest-growing coal regions," says Gregory H. Boyce, Peabody's chair and CEO. "We are pleased to be partnering with our customers to meet their energy needs and develop a major new coal mine." The mine is being developed as Peabody enters into long-term agreements with "two major Midwestern energy generators"; the contracts are expected to generate up to $6 billion in revenues. Peabody says operations will begin during the second half of this year and that the mine is expected to produce 2 million to 3 million tons of coal in 2010, with production increasing thereafter to a final capacity of 8 million tons annually.